The Case Against Imminent Economic Collapse: “They Can Keep Bailing Things Out for Several More Years Without Fear of Collapse”

Editor’s Note: The following commentary comes to us from Joel Skousen, a well respected geopolitical analyst and Strategic Relocation expert.

We see evidence of an impending collapse of the global financial and economic systems on an almost daily basis. From falsified statistics to an almost unfathomable series of never-ending monetary machinations, all signs point to something being horrifically wrong, not just with the economy but the entire global paradigm as it exists today. By all accounts, we seem to be standing on the brink of a collapse. But as Joel Skousen points out, we must keep in mind that the Wizard is still behind the curtain, and though things may be bad and getting worse, the puppeteers remain solidly in power and they continue to manipulate their marionettes across the board – in politics, in finance, in industry. Skousen argues that they may not yet be ready to pull the plug. But he’s not suggesting you should be lax with your vigilance. Rather, he proposes an alternate perspective, timeline and endgame as we prepare for a future that may well be plagued with economic hardship, government tyranny and war.

This week, I’m going to diverge from my normal preparedness tips and switch to my geopolitical expertise as the editor of the World Affairs Brief (www.worldaffairsbrief.com) . I feel the need to address the root controversy about what we are preparing for. I field more questions from subscribers and preppers each week on the subject of economic collapse than any other topic, and despite the failure of all these collapse predictions since 2010, they are back again in 2015.

And, it’s no wonder. There is an unending flow of predictions of complete and imminent collapse coming from both the uninformed and some very bright financial newsletter writers on the conservative/libertarian side such as Jim Rickards, Peter Schiff, Michael Snyder, R.G. Allen, Robert Kiyosaki, John Williams (shadowstats.com), Mike Maloney, and Mike Dillard (who’s been pushing the collapse of the EURO for years now and still won’t stop despite the failure of his predictions).

I’m not going to tell you that things are fine. They are not. The financial collapse writers are well informed about the problems of excessive debt, fiat money, and deficit spending that politically cannot be stopped nor solved now that the benefit corrupted voters can out-vote those of us who want government to stop these suicidal redistribution schemes.

But they have not thought out clearly the specifics of how and why it’s so difficult for an actual collapse to occur. Historically, no nation has ever collapsed financially outside of the destruction of war—none (even the so-called “collapse of the Soviet Union” was a carefully crafted deception, as outlined in this piece). Only when people are thrust into the most abject circumstances of survival, such as in WWII in Europe with the combination of allied bombing and the Russian invasion does an economy cease to function and turn into a mob of pillaging people.

Let me cover the various collapse scenarios that are being hyped constantly and why they aren’t necessarily imminent:

Electric Grid collapse: It is true that the nation would descend into massive social unrest should the electric grid go down and stay down for more than two weeks. That said, there are a lot of uninformed predictions about a massive solar flare, or EMP strike by some terrorist or rogue nation that could cause a grid collapse. The solar flare scenario is really only a threat to the grid in high northern latitudes since charged particles are channeled by the earth’s magnetic field toward the North Pole. Canada is much more at risk from a massive solar flare.

And, contrary to a lot of arm-chair tacticians, a single nuclear EMP strike over the US by some terrorist group is not capable of taking down the entire grid. It takes at least six simultaneous high altitude nuclear bursts to blanket the US, and only Russia and China have that capability. Yes, that strike is someday coming, but not as a separate event. Because Russia and China know the US military equipment is hardened against EMP, their military doctrine specifies a full nuclear strike against US military targets must follow within a few minutes of an EMP strike in order to stop US retaliation. So those who think our enemies will choose an EMP strike alone to bring down the US are misinformed. It is really only a serious threat combined with war—not as a stand-alone attack.

Banking Holiday: Virtually every claim that the Powers That Be (PTB) are going to pull a bank holiday and shut all banks comes from disinformation sources plying the internet. It started in Aug. 2010 with the so called “man in the FEMA jacket” telling a Sheriff’s department of such an impending change, and for everyone to pull out their money out before it happens. It was a complete fabrication even though it was claimed to be reliable because the person sharing this information was a Christian (always beware of those claims which take advantage of people’s religious loyalties).

There is absolutely no reason why the FED would call a banking holiday which would cut off people’s access to money. The economy would collapse within weeks, and the authorities would get all of the blame. Yes, I know people think the PTB would do this to justify martial law and FEMA prisons, but they aren’t that stupid to do so on such a flimsy premise. They’ll wait for a much bigger crisis, that appears out of their control, before they move into full tyranny.

Collapse of a currency: In general, this can only happen if the currency becomes relatively worthless in a short period of time, relative to other currencies. Inflation of the currency at high rates is the only thing that can cause this, ending either in devaluation and/or hyperinflation. Remember, that every other currency in circulation today is a fiat currency, and all are inflating at least as much as the dollar. Let me explain the specifics of these various collapse scenarios and why they are more difficult to achieve than people think:

1) Devaluation: Devaluation happens when a currency value is pegged to another at a fixed exchange rate, and the smaller currency inflates at a more rapid rate than the pegged currency causing an imbalance in demand which eventually causes the peg to be broken and a new fixed rate set. The dollar isn’t pegged to anything—it’s the standard. In a non-pegged system an informal devaluation can only occur if the dollar is being inflated at a much higher rate than other currencies. That isn’t happening because every other currency is inflating about the same rate proportional to their base as is the dollar. In fact, other currencies approve of US inflation, because it allows them to inflate their currency while maintaining the same relative exchange rate with the dollar.

3) Hyperinflation: Two things must be present for hyperinflation to happen. First, you must start with a relatively small money supply that can be expanded multiple times in a few years. The dollar base is so large, after having been inflated and spread around the world for so long that it literally can’t be inflated rapidly as compared to smaller currencies. The quantity of dollars in circulation is estimated at $200-300 trillion (not counting the huge non-monetized economy of derivatives, contracts and hedges perhaps as big as $500T). The FED could create $20T a year and it wouldn’t exceed 10% of the money in circulation (and they are only creating about $3T per year).

Second, a nation has to have some sort of indexing or automatic injection mechanism to put increasing quantities of money into the pockets of consumers so they can keep up with rising prices, otherwise the inflation kills stops economic growth—what we call “Stagflation.” We don’t have that, and what we do have (food stamps, unemployment compensation, Soc. Sec. etc) isn’t effectively indexed to inflation. Without the public’s ability to keep pace with inflation through automatic salary increases, as they did in Germany in 1936, the economy retracts when people can’t keep up, and spending decreases—again stopping hyperinflation and causing stagflation.

Now, I fully realize that real inflation is much higher than the government manipulated CPI. Real inflation according to Shadowstats.com is between 6-9%, not the 2% the government claims. That said, you don’t get a hyperinflation mentality unless real inflation rises to the 15-20% level, and the FED seems very much aware of that. They show no signs of letting real inflation rise above that level, and as long as they do so, people do adjust—we’ve been doing it for 20 years now.

4) Loss of Reserve Status. This also can’t happen anytime soon since the dollar base is so much larger than any other currency. You’d have to print up probably 10 times the existing quantities of Euros to supplant the dollar and that would have devastating inflationary effects on the Eurozone. The same with the British Pound. No one would trust the Chinese Yuan because there’s no transparency there either. What about a IMF “special drawing rights” basket of currencies? —The same problem exists there as in the EU—there’s no way to control that basket of currencies unless you have a global government, which we don’t have—yet (thank goodness).

Everyone keeps hyping how the BRICS nations are stopping their use of the dollar and forming alternate currency trading blocks, but all the nations in the BRICS except China represent less than 10% of the dollar markets—too small to sink the dollar. And, China can’t stop accepting dollars if she wants to sell to the US market. Besides, the US and Europe combined represent 75% of the dollar trade, and that isn’t going away at all.

Derivatives Collapse: If there is a real threat right now, it’s the huge derivatives and hedge fund bubble—trillions of dollars committed in contracts but almost without actual asset backing. No big paper investment happens today with CDS derivative insurance or hedging, and little of that can actually be paid to the beneficiary if a sufficient crisis develops. However, this mainly affects the huge speculative economy—and these have the most power to get a bailout from their fellows at the FED. Besides, the US controls all the regulatory agencies that have the power to declare a default—which has to happen before a derivative collapse can happen. Look what happened to the Greek default. Despite Greek bond investors having taken a 50% “haircut” (loss), the financial PTB in Europe and the US simple refused to declare it a default, and no derivative claims were allowed. Slick!

Stock Market Collapse: There clearly is a huge bubble in equities now, mostly driven by the big banks and institutional investors that have easy access to near zero interest rate loans from the FED. They invest these funds in the speculative markets rather than the real economy because they can get easy returns of 10-15%. While I expect there could be a 20% fall in the stock markets, even that would not result in the collapse of the economy. Harry Dent and other deflationists fail to adequately account for the power of the FED to manipulate all of our markets, using the Plunge Protection Team, naked shorts, and outright hiding of certain transactions.

I am fully aware that this fiat money/debt/deficit spending model cannot go on forever, but the globalists who control this nation and both political parties have the power to postpone the inevitable collapse of money for a lot longer than the collapse pundits realize. One of their main tactics has been to artificially lower interest rates to near zero to stave off the final day of debt reckoning when there isn’t enough budget money to pay the interest on the national debt.

In short, what I’m saying is that the FED can keep bailing things out for several more years without fear of collapse. Even in Europe, the FED keeps floating short term dollar loans to European banks to keep them solvent, and it isn’t resulting in hyperinflation. None of this resolves anything permanently, but neither does it mean they can’t keep using these same tricks for several more years.

None of what I am saying is meant to put you to sleep or think that “all is well.” It is not. But what the economic collapse hype does do, that is potentially harmful, is cause people to think destruction is imminent and therefore they don’t have time to prepare in an orderly fashion. Worse, too many keep telling their skeptical spouse that collapse in imminent and each year they get discredited in the eyes of those they are trying to get motivated to prepare. That is why it’s important to understand how the PTB can keep things bailed out for some time longer, and why they intend to do so.

I’ve been studying globalist motives and intentions for years, including the phony war on terror that they created in order to justify all of this neocon warmongering and intervention around the world—not to mention the destruction of numerous constitutional and civil rights against NSA spying, and indefinite detention.

But it’s not the Muslim threat nor a war in the Middle East that is the big threat—it’s the inevitable war with Russia and China that is coming in the next decade that you need to factor into your preparations. A major nuclear war with these other two global predators would not only give the globalists the opportunity to shove a militarized global government down our throats, but it would give them cover for the real economic collapse that would come with war, and they would blame it all on war.

War would also be the perfect excuse to finally implement martial law and the take down of dissidents—the real reason for NSA spying and the militarization of police. I’ll cover all of this, in detail, in my next contribution, including why our government continues to disarm in the face of growing Russian and Chinese aggressiveness.

Copyright Information: This content has been contributed to SHTFplan by a third-party or has been republished with permission from the author. Please contact the author directly for republishing information.

The Powers to Be will crash this anytime they damn well please on their watch, and when they are good and ready and prepared to do so. Watch for the signs, watch their hands not their lips. All the Chaos and threats in the world are manufactured by the same Banksters and NWO NATO Folks.

of course ISIS is in favor of gun control.
TRUTH — ISIS is an American Corporation formed to protect the government and corporate interests. They were caught trying to change the name of their website from ISIS to SIS. PLEASE check out the screen shots of this deception. They also forgot to change the domain name from isis. Check out the info on this site by scrolling down until you see several big screen shots of ISIS and SIS websites. The American people have been mislead and lied to once again. Here is the site… http://www.jimstonefreelance.com

Eppe,to quote a line from the movie”You want the truth,you can’t handle the truth”!That said,given what this country experiencing would say perhaps we are ready for all the truth,whatever the hell that may be!

Eppe,personal e-mail trashed though trying still to ressurect,on a lousy note a fair amount of $ invested for me by my dad may be a lost cause,who would have thought needed a receipt,shows some times unproper planning for unforseen insanity can bite you and hard though will get through no matter how it turns out!I am still though interested in “green alternatives”,may be awhile before can get my end of funding straightened out.
Will get you on more personal line when out of the land of “fruits and nuts”,will say,just like anywhere,some good folks here.Hope all is well with you and family and the deer shack!

Someone here has been saying for YEARS that there would be no hyperinflation.

Someone here has been say for YEARS that an market crash is not a dollar collapse.

Someone here has been saying for YEARS that the economic power of the BRIC’s was a figment of a fool’s imagination.

Someone here has been saying for YEARS that the Yuan cannot replace the dollar because it is not fungible and that the Chinese are on the precipice looking into the abyss.

Someone here has been saying for YEARS that the dollar would get stronger as offshore capital returned to the USA to prop up the markets, and that dollars could be removed from the economy just as they were inserted into it.

That’s the truth and its in the archives. Who was that masked man? Just saying … no surprise. 🙂

Oh BEAUTIFUL YMWW!!!!!! Just as I pictured him!!! Athletic? LMAO!!!! Figures, only DK could look in the mirror and see a six pack where a keg exists!!! The perfect “glass is half full” contradictory delusion!! Oh God, the irony…HEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!

Skousen has his opinion and makes money off people who have same opinion, just like Mac does off those who feel doom is closer on the horizon. Its just an opinion, a well thought out one, but still just an opinion. Afterall, only GOD can know the day and time it all comes crashing down.

Skousen does not take into effect the historically infamous “Black Swan” event as many of us do not take into effect the ability of this criminal cabal to keep things going in their favor.

My guess is “IT” is not happening next month but it just can’t go on for more than a couple years without looking like a collapse regardless of what the statistics show.

We are in the long emergency already, the beginning stages anyways. It may continue on that way for years but its not going to be too long before most people see /feel a “collapse”, hell many are already experiencing it in their own lives.

Its just going to get continually worse until something snaps, which could be next month or next year but its coming. We all feel it in our DNA, no way it can just reverse course back into the good old days without, a complete reset. It WILL come down sooner rather than later unless George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, JFK, and Reagan are resurrected and placed in immediate control, and even then its a crap shoot.

Just Fantastic YMWW!!! The universe usually lets the truth prevail and frauds to be exposed. Too bad it hasn’t worked against obama and company YET. Great detective work!!! Karma is an evil bitch heh DK?

You have too much time on your hands and you must be more than a little bit obsessed with me to spend your time researching me. But, hey! Keep looking. It will keep you and your eight guns in Idaho out of trouble this winter.

Self adulation? No, just pointing out that I have been right all along while the Chicken Little’s of the world have been SELLING the Alt Media Sheeple fear porn; while anarchists like you are totally against community, self government, and self determination.

Some rules, regulations, and laws are necessary to establish limits and guidelines for a functioning, cohesive, civil society. The functions of central banking can be conducted by Treasury to facilitate global commerce. Global commerce is necessary unless you are making your own underwear from old flour sacks or used sheets.

I am a Vietnam Vet. I am an ex-Marine. 21 months and 19 days with an early release from Nam. Three meritorious promotions and a recommendation for a combat promotion to boot. Any longer and we may have won the war. And you?

As far as “my profiles” I don’t post my real age because I do not look my real age. I prefer hot young women, and I get them. Most of them I pick up at LA Fitness. After a month or two I move on, or they do, and that’s the way I like it.

On the singles sites, I don’t want hot women to eliminate my profile in their search parameters because of my age. I am currently enjoying the companionship of very attractive women 18 to 53. One 18, one 53. Eat your heart out.

While I have MANY profiles on various singles websites, NONE of them are accurate and I am not a paying subscriber on any of them. I do not subscribe to Sugar Daddy’s. I do enjoy the view and all websites require a profile to view. It also exposes the local women looking for a buck.

It might be a good way to find your wife looking to move up, move on, or make a buck. Since it seems like a lot of young women want to be porn stars today, you might find your daughter on You Porn. 🙂

I certainly wouldn’t post my balance sheet and don’t need too to get a date. I have been married and divorced twice and have no intention of making that financial mistake again. I have every intention of enjoying my sexuality to the fullest with hot young women while I can. I can, and I do.

As far as the Chinese gal is concerned, I was trolling a Chinese personals site to find a “guide” for a possible vacation there while I am waiting for certain business events here. Again I wasn’t a subscriber, and my info was limited, but she found me. She: 21, VERY HOT, and has her own money, so she doesn’t need mine.

I really don’t like to fly, internationally. Having spent a day in the air crossing the Pacific in 1970, I can promise you that there is nothing down there but Hawaii and water: salt water. I hate salt water having grown up on the Great Lakes.

Ditching in the Pacific would be my worse nightmare, so she will have to come to me and has applied for a ten year investor visa. Wants me to mentor her. I’m game.

YMWW: Why would I deny it? Where is the fraud? What is there to expose? I don’t have as many alias’ as Barry Obola; nor as many cell phones or email addresses as Bill Clinton; but I manage. 🙂

BTW, I don’t care how much pussy you get. Its not a contest. I prefer quality over quantity any day and your sodomizing of little boys does not count as your getting pussy, anyway.

I meet most of my ladies in yoga class or on the machines ; and these hotties are slim and sexy and flexible. When there is a little chemistry I invite them over to the bachelor pad to shoot pool, watch the sunset or a movie on a big screen, and make dinner together. They love cooking together.

I probably have a guest profile on a dozen different social media sites. That’s just the way of the world of technology today.

Anyone today looking to meet someone should use social media. I have had hundreds of inquiries on my profiles: including married women looking to “enhance” their relationship, because they are in a loveless marriage.

To date I have not dated any women from any of the websites where I have a profile; having been on some for YEARS, but I would if I wanted to pursue a particular woman. As it is I am inundated with hot young women just from LA Fitness.

Nothing to “expose” because there is nothing to hide. How about you? 🙂

Holy Shit DK!!!, After this little exchange, you have proven, finally, that you are more pathetically delusional than even I could have ever imagined you were!!!! You think you are desirable? With that fucking udder hanging off your chin? You look like a retarded version of Milton from the movie Office Space!!!! The only “hotties” let alone any woman, you get are paid for!!! WOW!!! just wow…

one more thing I have to point out just to ad the icing on this cardboard cake, a quote from DK to YMWW “while anarchists like you are totally against community, self government, and self determination. ”

That should make it clear to even the dullest of tards DK’s absolute lack of understanding of the drivel he spews..anarchists are all about self government and self determination you fucking dumbass!!!!!

If dk is a vietnam vet (which I highly doubt, at least not a combat one, cook maybe), would actually put him in his 60’s, which he is right, he doesn’t look his age, he looks older, I truly hope he isn’t suffering from PTSD which I would feel a little bad about exposing him for the fraud he is.

Give it up DK, you have been been discovered, verified and publicly humiliated (rightfully so). Take it like a man and accept the fact you have lost any shred of credibility you think you may have had. Stop trying to defend yourself and to continue to pile on the bullshit, its really unbecoming and embarrassing!

The ONLY 18 year old you fuck DK is that patched up rubber doll you bought back in 1997!!!!
Maaaaate………get your hand off your cock and wipe the side of your mouth……there’s too much bullshit running out.

@ Durangokid: Eventually all will end in a pile of ashes. Just because it has not happened YET, does not mean it will never happen. The fact is… that because it has not happened yet means we are that much closer to it happening. This event is going to rip us all apart.

All the Web-site sources I know of, are completely out of stock or hording the 5.56 62 Gr FMJ Green Tip Steel Penetrator rounds. Wanna see Ammo shelves wipe clean, Watch Obama’s Lips Flap. This is a Wake up call, and any available money you have keep stacking Ammo. Just a week ago this 62 Gr Green Tip was about as cheap as it was in 2010 and 2011. How in just 3 days there is None out there at all for sale? You know these Ammo Suppliers are hording it, with no backorder options, to wait for a high price to dump it. Your AR-15 Needs to Eat. 10,000 Rounds Min. Whats next?

If the Ammo Suppliers were smart, they would move all the 62 Gr. Green Tips to a secure unknown location. Even all the Brass and parts are sold out. Maybe its time to buy a few more AR-15’s and wait again for the price to double and triple again, then sell. Hey we can play this game too.

WWTI you can bet suppliers have warehouses full of 62gr greentip. they will just sit on it until they see whether the ATF bans it or not. This is a win/win for ammo dealers, if the ATF don’t ban it the shelves will be restocked at an even higher price than before, and if it is banned it will be grandfathered for the suppliers and the sky will be the limit on price for whats in storage. The suppliers already tried to play the game, after I read your comment a couple of days ago, I went on line and found some and placed an order, I got a confirmation on my purchase and the next day I got an email that the order couldn’t be filled, then another email that they found some and I would be getting my order, but tracking still shows it hasn’t been shipped. I’ll believe it when I hold it in my grubby little hands. As some on here say, if you don’t have it in your possession you don’t own it. Trekker Out.

First Level headed article I have seen on the truth of how much time we have. Jus keep prepping and training and building teams. A storm is coming but keep your mouth shut, your OPSEC tight, and keep prepping. Can’t wait till the second installment. PRAY, PLAN, PREP, FORM TEAMS.

CNBC – As usual the first sign of Real Estate Collapse is to watch the Canary in the Condo Markets. Condos in Cities like Miami that just went through a run up, sales have fallen off the Map this month, as well as in Las Vegas and NY. And inventories are skyrocketing. Then Single Family housing follows by getting crushed and then Farm land. Like anything, Buy Low and Sell High and don’t fall in love with any possessions. Easy come and easy go.

This is just an elaborate shell game in order to allow enormous capital flows from A to B and allow the banksters to place a gun at the heads of (willing participant) liberal governments to facilitate more and more global control?

Will the collapse happens? Maybe.

Do I want it to happen? Yes since there is no peaceful option left and I like to see a world wide elite class cleansing.

@smaltz; Like you know what’s going to happen. Since zee ist ein schwanzlutscher, You would know, eh? What a generic statement, so you can LOOK like you have a grasp of the intricacies of international finance. Ha what a stretch. “A to B” what a deep concept. Anyone that “wishes for this” is an idiot. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR, YOU MIGHT GET IT…..and I’m here to tell you that karma is an evil bitch, but she wants some tongue and a deep french kiss, and she will suck your brains out. You waste good air. Develop some skills other than being such a slug. “A shell game”, how would you know….your tribal connections? Is that how you know? That would be the ONLY way you could know that with any certainty, eh. One should question YOUR loyalties.

Hackers around the world just Stole over a Billion Dollar$ by hacking Banks. They hacked bank accounts and manipulated ATM Machines to Spit out money like it was nothing. Poof Gone and that’s just the beginning.

All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

2 good live web links to put on your phone for live spot pricing for Gold and silver.

Maybe this is the Manipulated Move for silver back to $10 and Gold back to under $1000 or $800 before they jack it up again. Its all manipulated, by the Pros, so jump on their wagon and enjoy the ride. I will start buy silver soon.

I found out about the collapse “hype” last year when I realized many articles are posted at blogs to produce fear and looked at their advertisers—survival/economic collapse ads to buy their products.

Not to dismiss all the hype they give; I have learned a lot from them. However, it has brought me to not believe the imposing threats to a total collapse with societal destruction from various sources manipulated to make me buy in a panic what they advertise so they make $$ from me. I prepare for other reasons, and dismiss many of the end of the world articles I read.

-5F here in a blizzard mothafukkas. Work called off. I went right out and summited a mountain. Its not cold at all if you use the damn simple layering system. Today I had Columbia thermal reflective long johns, fleece top and bottoms, down hooded jacket, and hard shell hooded top and bottoms. Two glove layers and balaclava under my two hoods. Pretty damn comfortable. It was a steep mountain and I fell several times. In a fucking blizzard. At -5F. Damn I am a badass.

I just may go to the Beach today 75 degrees here in Florida, and watch the Spring Break college chicks in their string Bikinis, drink cold beer out of a cold sweaty glass. Catch a sunset and shack up. lol Life is a Beach!!

@AE; Sounds like you’re a sped. You “fell several times”. Don’t think I would brag about it. I sat out in the sun today. I am a badass! I hope it snows 10 more fucking feet where ever it snows. Maybe it will be -10 fucking degrees too. One can only HOPE.

Long as people are fooled I guess it could keep going, least till the pillars fall out from under everyone. At this point I try to live in the now and not worry about the when part. Off topic, but they have a snap program where you can buy seeds, fruit trees and other planting stuff. Anyone have any clue what that is about? It would seem like something they’d be against….then again how many people with handouts are going to do the work required to grow food…..

My personal three step fighting method: I grab as much of their hair as I can and head for the floor with my full body weight. The person usually follows, whether they want to or not. Then I start wailing away until only one of us can get back up off the floor.

The collapse is already here for millions of people, take a look around. The maths is all well and good, trouble is there are those pesky people that need food and heat that will mess up all the sums. I hate to do it but its ayn rands “You can ignore reality but you cant ignore the consequences of ignoring reality”

People, the man behind the curtain always wins…
the globalists will win, temporarily… for evil always wins the short game, and loses the long game.

Think, what the man said above is correct… the dollar collapses, and what will they do? They have the ‘Lincoln Option’ available, that, instead of ‘capitalist banker money’, they take the power of the issuance away for themselves, and issue new ‘socialist global credits’. The Durango Kidd crowd will be standing there with their privates in their hands and their jaws on the ground.

Problem solved, that way, they can buy off everybody.
Except, of course, those of us who will refuse to take the chip of loyalty in our hand or forehead…

The Phoenix will always rise from its own ashes, more powerful than before. Its about power, raw power, the Haves vs The Have nots. Always has been, always will be. The only lesson we need to learn, is 1984, the last book in their bible.

Any who can add and subtract know the system is fucked as it stands.Greece not willing to bend for more bailouts which long term will be good for them,short term lies from pols about economic add to citizens will hurt but they should as Iceland did say screw it.The eu is done and rightfully so,was a bad deal for producing countries and countries on the eu dole.The same is true for this country,besides prepping engage as much as possible in the cash/barter/alternative currency economy that makes sense to you.No matter what new economies will arise,just going to be a interesting ride.
On a side note,to all my brothers and sisters in New England,hope you get a break from the snow soon and promise to bring back some Cali. weather in my backpack,will first run that weather through a colander to remove the fruits and nuts!

The Greeks are demanding MOAR loans, while being indignant about any suggestion of being able to pay back what they have borrowed. The socialists have been successful. The Greeks think that their neighbors HAVE cash, so they should freely hand it over.

The loans went to the banks, not the Greek people. But the people are being forced to pay it back and the politicians agreed to institute austerity measures. As a result, the Greeks have no health care, pensioners took a 25% cut, youth unemployment is 50%, regular unemployment is 25%, people can’t afford food or medicine, suicides soared and people abandoned their children. If you think that’s socialism, you are crazy. It’s actually supercapitalism as practiced by the financial industry in league with corrupt politicians. How about learning some facts before you spout off?

But Shit…….Nobody sees America paying back it’s $18 Trillion debt….which is, every cent, a borrowing of money it doesn’t have.
I wouldn’t sling off at Greece when the US is the largest debtor / war / drug / spying / lying nation on the planet.
Have a long think about it mate and get back to me.
Indeed “Shit”….. Go and take a shit and think about it then 🙂

Warchild. If you are F*cked, blame yourself. You failed to prepare. Failing to plan is planing to fail. Life is full of choices, like living up in a blizzard country you whole life. Like after 40 years, living there, as if it is some big f*cking surprise you got snow and is cold as shit.

Actually who,am doing fine as working in Cali.,just hope the folks in New England get a break,but,I and they who grew there can handle the 4 seasons.As for fucked on the investment bit,well,me dad was handling some inheireted money(was it ever really mine,the kind of money you don’t want to collect),just never had receipts ect.,was me dad after all who unfortunetly died,will still be fine as I have me health/friends/family and some monies,but,since you decided to attack me on it,fuck you.

Sarge, just had a little winter storm pass through my area yesterday but now slowly thawing out. Spring can’t come fast enough. I have a supply run planned to the BOL in GA for March if the weather is just right.

WCD
By no means have I let my guard down. Tenn. is a dream location for the wife and I to go to after she retires. We are trying to find the right place to buy.
I think they might be telling this so that the SHEEPLE will set back and do nothing, but for me I’m prepping like it is 1999. If you know what I mean. “Better to have it and not need it”. “Than need it and not have it”.
Sgt.

Sgt Dale ,
If it was not for us prepping the economy would have collapsed long ago , I think we are the only ones keeping it a float at this point . I could all come crashing down without warning , look at the strikes at the ports that are getting no news coverage , ( buy American by pass the ports )
And the strikes at the oil refineries . The future is a big fat unknown there is a lot going on at all fronts better to be observant and alert. , with agility and adaptability .

Damn Sarge,was joking,but from the stupid little thumbs you would think some here thought I was on the attack!Seems folks getting too serious!Given all we have discussed here didn’t really believe you or others here letting all the preps go to the wayside!

WD
OK my thoughts were that you were thinking I’m waiting too long to go to Tenn.
You do know that some times we all can use a little kick in the butt to keep our heads on straight, and I thank those that give it to me.
Stay warm and safe!
Sgt.

I had a feeling that something like this was going on. I’ve studied money in conjuntion with near zero interest rates from the reserve also couple with massive bailouts and didn’t quite put it together until now.

Truthfully, all of this on a mathematical level makes sense. They can do this for awhile longer, but I wouldn’t grow complacent. It could come to an end in just a few short years, and we can all attest to just how fast time goes by.

@w&w; Well, you cant eat ammo,first aid kits or guns…and you cant use the others for things they are not. It’s about balance and the core preps. I have PMs, guns, food, ammo, etc. and so on. Prepping prepares for as many threats as you are able….or want to. Be Well.

@Kulafarmer; Yeah, I agree. The number of different calamities that have the ability to overtake us, are legion, and they are many. The “probabilities” will overwhelm us at some point. Probability wise. Be Well.

WW,though agree you cannot eat metals they are a inflation protection device to a degree and perhaps a start on the other side if you make it.
I agree with the need for more prep related articles,till then have found builditsolar good for alt energy/USCrow for many intersting survival ideas/hogwarts school of medicine for some out of the box medical ideas/skills/training,Willow Creek for brush survival along with survival sherpa for same ideas/skills.I do find many here have different ideas/sites ect. which is one reason come around here for articles but more for forum.You have any questions usually either a good answer or more here or at least a good direction for more info.

Call me a skeptic; but, though much of what Mr. Skousen says is mathematically quite correct, I consider that he is personally engaged in long-term financial operations himself. Those same require investments by the very same people who now are preparing. It is hard to sell property requiring loans unless there is a financial system in place to make those same loans. Granted, his ideal market would be to those who could plunk down the purchase prices in full. But………. business is business to him.

I single him out no more than any other financial pundit who reaps profit from the SHTF community. It is one of the first of my thoughts when I consider any ‘advice’. That being, “what does this guy do for a living?” and “how much does he stand to make if his product is selected?”.

That is the game we play. Or is it a game. It is a game till it hits the fan. It can be many things. Big or small. I would say we all benefit from Info and Material. Why do we play this game? Everyone has a reason. Each one is no more important than the other. What would you consider to be an extreme prepper. Not only in the accumulation of material but the thought process he uses to make decisions.
Even after many years of preps I do not consider myself as an extreme prepper. I have the skills, material and stored information to wait this out.
After reading this article, the enemy, to a large degree, is TIME. Either we have too much of it or not enough.

And look around for SHTF blogs who make a profit from fear in their survival ads. That’s all survival blogs including this one. They all have to make a living spending a lot of work on them. Creating fear makes a good living, just as security systems, Lifelock, and insurance companies do.

Bailing snow in the northeast the economy has got to be taking a hit around here. The snow has brought commerce to crawl. The streets are barely a car wide and the corners have piles so high you can’t see over them. I’m glad I have preps to fall back on .I’m an old boyscout and be prepared is my motto. Roofs are starting to cave in around here mine don’t have much snow on it. If it did I’m not really worried I have some plywood sheets and plastic sheeting I could put a bandaid on it till I can get it fixed proper. This is what prepping is about. Seeing a need and having supply’s and knowledge to get through. We had a flood one year here got a couple inches of water in the basement. Got a pump to get it out another prep put up for a rainy day. It does not take a lot of smarts to do these things really just will to get by. In the throes of disaster your neighbors are gonna be facing the same dilemma . You gotta look out for you and yours. Same thing with finances you gotta hold on to $ for future use. You don’t wanna put it on a card and be haunted if you don’t need to. I know sometimes things come up you need to bust out a card just so you don’t have to scrape up a lump sum. Pay it down as fast as you can. I watch people charge a pack of smokes this is dumb your gonna smoke em all and want more tomorrow. You gonna be on the hook to pay for last months cigs. Use credit right .

Well Joel. thanks for the honest perspective, there is a lot that has to happen before the other shoe’s drop.However!!! I would say timing is everything,and as you know from experience and history, that changes (every second).our time table is not Gods.
What we all know is? the end result,is spelled out quite clearly.The defeat of satan,GOG AND MAGOG the Antichrist,the false prophet.a new heaven and a new earth.
(short version ) I fear nothing knowing that upon the death of my fleshly body,my spiritual awakening will be one of Gods promises And blessings.A body that will be anew and not ever die and if needed? it will be used for the battle against the armies of Satan.I’M am not a religious cynic nor a zealot.JUST A REGULAR OLE FELLA. KAYNINE OUT…

@Sharon; WWII was simply the continuation of WWI. TPTB(then) didn’t recognize that, and suffered the consequences. “Peace in our time”. What a “smaltz” Neville Chamberlain was! When addressed with an issue, confront it and succeed. Be Well.

Joel Skousen, The idea that millions of people can run into the wilderness is naive, 99% would be dead in a week or to. If and when the system fails, the looting and killing will be off the charts. My advise is to shelter in place until the masses are gone. 30 days should work.

99% dead within a week…that’s the beauty of it all. The non preppers will be dead and frankly good riddance. These are not idle words. They are a pain in the ass now and we don’t need them when the going gets tough. If anyone can’t accept those words then you won’t make it either. A callous conscience will be your best friend out there.

Your leery conclusions are completely mistaken. If you had ever taken the time to read my World Affairs Brief you’d know that I have NEVER supported Mitt Romney (I was a Ron Paul supporter) and have always been a huge critic of Glenn Beck. Please don’t make definitive claims without any basis in fact.

How in the world can people be SO critical of Glenn Beck?!?!?! IS he perfect? far from it but he was one of the first to have the balls to start prognosticating the very topics now discussed on this website. He helped to start the awakening of so many (I started watching him on CNN because he was saying the same things I had been saying.He was one of the very first “Public Preppers” that acknowledged the same fears we all have.

Has he taken some stands that really piss me off, (like theres nothing to obama hiding his records)? Hell yes!! But has he informed a percentage of a very uninformed public about the dangers we face? most definitely. He is essentially one of us, if we are this divided even amongst ourselves then we really do not stand a chance of surviving whats coming.

Just the way they keep pulling us and pushing us this way and that way, telling us we can no longer have this or that, we must do this and do that, I for one am starting to feel like the NATIVE AMERICAN must have felt long ago. They to rose up to the tranny, just like we will, but this time I do believe there is to be a different outcome. Prepare folks; the battle can be seen approaching on the horizon now, soon, very soon. There will be no smoking of the piece pipe now to try and settle this one.

They (Sioux)didn’t do too badly at Little Bighorn. Same kinda leadership was present on the calvary side as we have in DC today, arrogant as hell and just full of themselves. It (arrogance) was also present on the Titanic. Don’t get caught up in it. I believe the collapse will happen. Many people will come on here and say it’ll be this year or that year, tomorrow, or never. All you got to be concerned about is yourselves. I wish you could have been with me as I walked around a couple of stores yesterday just watching people get items in anticipation of the storm “Octavia” that came in here last night. The rudeness and callousness toward others was astounding. I did not buy a single item but only to observe. It shored up my resolve to remain free of putting myself in the situation that most there were in. Sometimes when you grow a little weary its best to stand back sometimes and watch.

If your enemy is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him. If your opponent is temperamental, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them. If sovereign and subject are in accord, put division between them. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

There are basic financial fundamentals that, like gravity, cannot be denied. The Wizards of Smart think they can control everything, including the comming collapse.Not gonna happen.
Introduce a REAL Black Swan event, and the law of unintended consequences kicks in. And of course no one is exempt from Murphy’s law.
Reality is a real Bitch. Prepare accordingly.

In order for Skousen to be correct, everything has to continue on under pretty much the same conditions which we have now, with TPTB calling all the shots. The reality is, there are any number of events that could take place that would turn his whole argument on its head. Skousen’s whole idea of purchasing land in rural locations and moving to that location requires the existence of some kind of rule of law. If things were bad enough that living in a rural area would be a requirement for survival, then everyone in the cities will be heading for the rural areas. In such an event, unless you live in an underground bunker with a camouflaged entrance, your hideaway will be discovered and you will suffer the same fate as those in the cities. In fact, so many things have to be in line for his ideas to work that it is implausible that anyone following his recommendations will have much of a chance at all.

I’ll be sure to tell the 50+ million people on foodstamps that things are just fine. Maybe they can pass the information along to the millions of unemployed people?

The economy began to collapse in 2008.

The government and their pet pundits are trying to prop up the facade of normalcy they have built in front of the growing pile economic debris, pretending it’s real while hoping for an actual recovery to occur – it’s not going to, and they have no clue how to fix their mess.

I understand and appreciate Joel’s points but have to say he sounds like just another American Exceptionalist who believes we are pulling the strings world-wide. The last couple paragraphs of this excellent article gives him away. We are positioned and behaving TODAY, in a way which is totally suicidal and defies prediction. There are several ways that several countries right now and without warning, could make one simple act which would ignite WW III. Joel, your point of personal preparedness is of course, the most important point, but I also believe your decades of watching this has created your own kind of bubble. Just because we can outline historic avoidance of self-destruction, does not mean it is currently going to be containable. I think you have grown too presumptive due to your long-view perspective. There has never been a world configuration as it is today. People are unpredictable. Different forces are in motion now. Precipatating other factors are in play because the Planet is so different. And it is always difficult to allow for things unseen, unimagined, and uninvented – we Elders are also subject to Intellectual Complacency.

I am fully aware that this fiat money/debt/deficit spending model cannot go on forever, but the globalists who control this nation and both political parties have the power to postpone the inevitable collapse of money for a lot longer than the collapse pundits realize. One of their main tactics has been to artificially lower interest rates to near zero to stave off the final day of debt reckoning when there isn’t enough budget money to pay the interest on the national debt.

Yeah know what’s cool about that?

Looked at CD and Money Market rates lately? No, of course you haven’t, and why the hell would you? Their interest rates are a damned joke. Back in ’06… hey great, beating inflation. Now? Hah. I’m laughing to keep from crying.

So… you know what? If you find yourself on Social Security or Unemployment… or any form of fixed income… I mean basically you might as well jump off a fraggin cliff because you are just delaying the inevitable by 5-10 years absolute tops. It’s like your savings account has terminal cancer.

And they’re doing this to avoid paying higher interest on the National Debt?

Well then. Do you expect them to stop any time soon?

And that right there is why you are effed. This is the sense of impending doom everyone has, because everyone senses this but no one’s personally mathed it. The only inflation-beating investments are now super high risk stuff. Don’t take the risk and you’re dead of inflationary cancer.

Can it go on like this?

I mean… why not I guess. No one actually working and helping GDP is going to notice a bunch of missing people, any more than you personally wonder what happened to that bum that used to panhandle by your local freeway offramp. Yeah, remember that guy? Where’d he go,do you think? Perhaps to his new job as fertilizer, methinks?

And the working people are the only ones anyone cares about anyway.

This is that nagging feeling in the back of your mind that things are going south in the heaps of hurry. And I suppose if you’re younger than your late 40’s, you aren’t going to notice. The rest of us sure as shit do, and you’re next.

Generally speaking, nothing that is extremely large to orchestrate goes very quickly, including economic or social collapse. Many of the countries that have underwent some form of collapse in recent memory were much smaller than USA, if not in population, in wealth for sure.
Just the table scraps of wealth that are leftover for America’s dwindling middle class are considered living high on the hog by much of the world. That much said,most of the contingencies we prep for are things a person should be ready for anyway. I like good kit! I like to eat! So even if we don’t go back to the Bronze Age, I can use these preparations for just plain insulation against inflation if nothing else. I feel a lot of folks actually want anarchy/ total collapse overnight,I argue that the collapse is ongoing and that it could take some time to let the air out of the large balloon that is USA. ( It still don’t hurt to buy lead when its on sale, nonetheless:-) )

A sober and good analysis. The internet allows for great hysteria and various people to push self-serving agendas (“Buy my gold!! Buy vitamins!! Buy my ready-meals!!!!”). These muddy the waters and make sober thinking more difficult. People lose perspective.

We have yet to see obligations placed on us that would be recognizable to our grandparents (if you are in your 40s/50s). They experienced the draft, currency and capital controls, rationing, mass unemployment with no welfare benefits etc. In short, if you think things are hard now, you ain’t seen nothing yet. And the government did not collapse and nor did society. People are very resilient and so is the government.

The government and major corporations have all the cards and will play them as they see fit. I agree what we should be more worried about is major conflagrations with major powers. That’s when things get very nasty very quick. A bunch of Aaaa-rabs in nappies with sandals and an AK do not worry me. Nor do gang-bangers and race-baiters stirring up trouble in the cities: every time they do it, they just feed the security state beast.

But a major war with Russia/China would be bad news. Both countries, unlike developing countries in Africa for example, actually have the capability to invent and make things and organize themselves. A formidable foe displays various characteristics. They show an ability to undertake long-term, strategic thinking. They are able to use their civilization to impose order on the population. They can invent and innovate complicated technology and improvise under stress. Both Russia and China can do this; Guinea, Madagascar etc. can not.

The world is clearly divided now between states that owe everything to the Federal Reserve to stay alive (99 percent of the developing world through aid money etc.) and those who have their own economic systems and can stand on their own (Russia and China). The conflict will be there.

Who exactly does the govs debts get paid to. Seems to me the agenda that is being pushed on all of us is to blame giving free stuff through programs just think about the debt that could be paid down with this $ it’s not govs job to pay people’s bills this is why a consumer economy is no good. It relies on people to consume things and if they are poor they consume less which is better for environment. It’s sad our economy is based on consumption. Think about it when you leave your house you get in your car it consumes gas you stop and get a coffee go to the store get things you think you need but don’t. It’s all about you spending a buck you see it on the news consumer spending is down. The first of the month people are in Wally’s buying food a week later no one is in there they have spent there food stamp $ and have no more till the first again the same cycle all over again. If the gov pulls food stamp $ away from people they hurt Wally’s their business partner. Not gonna happen. So you see half the population is gov financed it’s gone on for so long there is no stopping the free ride now only way is if they kill the useless eaters. I know it sound genocidal but they talk about population reduction this is a good place to start. Get rid of bad debt it’s not the govs job to support useless eaters. Welfare was never meant to live on just to help people get through a tough time . These people have no interest in getting a job they are out in their pajamas bringing the kids to the bus stop. They are not looking to get back to work. I’m on my way to work and see this and it totally burns my ass. It’s not temporary for these people they are lazy and want to live off my hard work. Too many takers not enough payers. The people who don’t work are on the same playing field as those who work. This is injustice I don’t care anymore I’m just going in and doing the minimum now why work hard we are all the same. Sick of others living off the fruits of my labor. It’s way out of control and people are brainwashed to believe there is anything wrong with it. How did we get here people.

More falling wages and pay cuts on the horizon it’s the only way to prop up the economy middle class go bye bye. Just the doers and the takers but everyone is the same that’s fair and equal to obumer oh that business you father built he didn’t build that Uncle Sam did. Society has to be sick to put someone like this in charge. I do it for Soviet Union

THATS what i understand!
Just good old fashioned common sense, i guess thats why we didnt have too many disasters when I was a kid, everyone was a lot more self reliant and conservative. Was all like water off a ducks back

1) the dollar is pegged ,..to petro…
2) petro and fossil fuels are under attack by the “green and clean energy movement…
3) imagine a world with solar and turbine power on every home..,here is a list of obsolete systems;
—nuclear power plants
—petro and fossil fuel power plants
—hydro electric dams
—smartgrid and high voltage lines
—utility companies
—corporations<<< mainstream media falls here
—all employees related to the above industries
—banks
etc etc etc,,, the domino effect will be broad and will effect all current monopolies…
4) if we do not need petro anymore,,. then no one on earth needs "petro"dollars…

“petro and fossil fuels are under attack by the “green and clean energy movement”

The Green Energy Movements goal is ostensible. Their real goal is to increase the cost of fossil fuel in the developed world so more is available at a cheaper cost to be used in the developing world. This is why China was exempted from restrictions on proposed treaties to ostensibly reduce global carbon emissions. In the end the total carbon to atmosphere increases.

The “Save The Earth” people are nothing more than useful idiots in their support of the above.

Hey Mac,just wanted to know if you have heard anything that might say something about Russia hitting the northeast with the cold weather and snow because of what Obama has said about them.I know they can modify the weather like the US can.—-Thanks

CJ,not sure the ruskies can do that,guess with tech things change all the time.I as a kid did ride out the blizzard of 78 in New England,so either someone in another country really pissed at us then or as we say in New England”Don’t like the weather,wait a minute and will be different”.Tis a real pain in the ass but in those parts we do get pretty good storms at times,nothing compared to ny state,the got 8 feet of snow in a week this season.

It takes some time and effort reading to figure out that the political power of the country, for the most part is not in the hands of the people. While the information to support this thesis, in the post Internet world is far more available and more people than ever are seeing it, the numbers are sill a quite small.

Many people:

1. Don’t care to know as they are too busy with hobbies and activities (Food and Circus) to spend the time. In essence they, “Don’t know and don’t care to know”. NSA collecting every phone call? “I don’t care, I don’t do anything wrong”. It takes that kind of IQ to be mesmerized with worshipping the sphere.

2. Some actually believe that the people that are elected are looking out for them. Oh you have the occasional true public servant but for the most part its a smoke and mirror illusion. They give their choice a break switching blame to the other party. When you hear, “Oh they are so stupid”, just terminate the conversation with a, “yep”. They’re a dog chasing its tail.

3. Some know a little, are frightened and don’t want to learn any more. They occupy their time with #1 above.

4. Some are working 3 part time jobs to make 60% of their previous one job. They damn sure know something is wrong, however they have no time, they’re worn out.

I know many powerful people or people who are professors, senior researchers. They will shake their heads but will never do anything. Most are dependent on the system to give them their money so they will never publicly upset the apple cart. As for the rest of the population, they absolutely do not care as long as they can get laid, eat, watch stupid TV, etc. Most people are not deep thinkers and are nowhere near capable of grasping the big picture. I have also worked with many elite people and we know enough to just treat the general population like reptiles: keep giving them the right stimulus and they will shut the f# up. Trust me, I have tried to tell them: “Hey, did you know we abducted people all over the world, flew them on dark flights to secret detention centres, tortured their asses and then killed them?”

“Baby, baby… move out of the way you are blocking the TV. My favorite show is on baby. Now come here and give me a cuddle.”

This is why I spend my time now deeply observing what is going on between the competing elites. They are the deciders and the social engineers and that is where the battles are fought. Hanging out with them is more fun (great parties, the best food and drink) and you get the heads-up as to what happens next. You will never get that in a million years from somebody living on food stamps and watching daytime TV.

You guys nailed it,
I know all kinds of people, one common theme is the desire to not upset their fragile apple cart,
Everyone from young women on welfare to old geezers on SS and ALL of them are reluctant if not even remotely willing to discuss this stuff least they lose their benefits,
Its time for a major reset, couple it with a purge of political elite and public sector leeches

A texas judge seems to have put for moment obama amnesty on hold with his executive order BS,agreed with states must be halted till played out in court as can’t easily be reversed,will make for some interesting cases but as always keep a eye on the bigger picture world event wise,still,could be entertaining!

When none is available, the way to freedom must be pointed out. Their feast may yet end prematurely with a swat from a bear. It seems they want that. A bear attack that runs right past the gallows would give them a pass. That is some plan. Greed has overcome sense here. Corruption stops us from doing anything effective. For example take core mathematics. Indeed, the numbers are all friendly now. Nanny’s insanity has gone contagious while there is no vaccine for reality. And yet reality still lurks somewhere out there for now. Getting ready for its inevitable embrace. I hope it isn’t a bear hug. “We bruised some folks”. Some bear Greece may help with that. Ice is good too if it is of the landic type. It is that way freedom flees. We must make haste in that direction.

“Benefit corrupted voters” implies that the problem lies with the average American. It does not. The problem is the very rich and the corporations who have corrupted state and Federal officials to make laws that favor the wealthy while the rest of us are being impoverished.

Insinuating that the poor, the elderly, veterans, and the disabled are voting themselves goodies is a right-wing meme. It allows politicians to take away food stamps, to take away aid, to “demonize” anybody who isn’t rich. And it distracts from the very real corporate corruption that is stealing every country’s wealth and resources.

You seem to imply that those who are not receiving freebies and aid are the “rich”.

In reality, all aid is that which is taken away from those who work for it -those who produce it- and given to those who do not.

It is not a “Rich vs. Poor” thing, it is a producer vs non producer – a makers vs. takers- thing.

Eventually, this results in the producers simply quitting production since it is just taken from them and given to someone else who did not produce, as we currently see happening in Venezuela and have seen numerous times in various other countries throughout history. As this process progresses everyone becomes equally deprived, the (formerly) rich and the poor alike.

Of course TPTB have created the conditions for the governmental dependency. Free Trade has eviscerated the middle class and had wide spread support by both Democrats and Republican Congressmen / Senators, Presidents and their respective Administrations.

People needing assistance are a symptom not the cause. Its also true that those desperately needing this assistance will vote for its continuance. Such is the cycle.

A few more years? Really?? The system collapsed in September 2008, and they’re already on at least six years’ borrowed time and trillions more dollars. I can’t imagine piling even more debt on top of what’s already there; but of course that’s all they know how to do, and they’re terrified because they know they can’t stop.

Events in the financial system worldwide are speeding up. It won’t be long till it blows.

Louis GutterAss
You should be hung for treason,
You are no longer representing the people, you say you represent these ILLEGAL ALIENS!
You can ROT IN HELL
DEPORT ILLEGAL ALIEN TRASH
EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM

I’m way down here at the end of things and nobody will read this (Mac, did you ever consider adding sorting to the string, i.e., most recent?) but what do you expect from a guy who sells real estate? Prophesies of end times? This is as much an infomercial as a reasoned treatise on world affairs.

We have been on borrowed time for 7 yrs since the recession, now all hell is breaking loose all over the world, I do not think a space rock will end us, but I believe that humanity will end or at least reset itself do to all of the greed and power mo gets that is in the top .10% people. What we need to do here is stop bickering among ourselves and get back to the basics of what we are, which is preppers. Start sharing ideas and advice, we are limited in numbers on who beleif what is comming and only the strong and prepared will survive

I started to dimly become aware that something was not right globally about 2005 or thereabouts. That is, I don’t specifically recall worrying about collapse, but I was concerned enough that I moved out of the city and outstate to a rural house on an acre. I was worried enough by about 2007 that I actually bought a bunch of grain and a country living grain mill, along with my second rifle. In 2010 I bought a shotgun, a handgun and a giant bunch of ammo for every gun I own (1000+ rounds on hand at all times). In 2011 I got a really nice Berkey water filter setup. All along the way I started keeping more and more food on hand…at least 6 months now and moving toward 2 years.

I posted here not long ago that I’ll be out of non-mortgage debt as of this spring or summer. I’m making plans to make the big jump to the Rockies, probably MT or ID, once some entanglements here let me go which may be this year but probably won’t be for several more years. I’m currently trying to recruit a couple of family members to come with us and get a setup with 2 or more houses on it in the mountains, or space and resources to set up additional housing.

And just lately I’ve heaved a BIG sigh of relief as I’ve looked closely at what’s happening and came to the same conclusions as this article. Yes, things could start moving fast, but they’ve looked like that since 2006 and things aren’t that much different now than they were then (and much better in my personal finances). In about 2007 or 2008 I settled on 2015 as a wild-ass guess as to when things would come to a real crisis, but now, looking around, I think we have more time and for that I thank God. I think it will be at least 2018-2020 before the real deal hits.

Regardless of when it comes, I’m just going to do what I can do toward my goals and hope like hell that I win this race because I strongly suspect that my life and the lives of my family may depend on it. If you’re feeling charitable, pray for me to be able to convince my wife the rest of the way that my whole dream is a good idea, and convince some of my and her family to come with us. It would be a lot easier if I didn’t feel like the lone ranger trying to rip us away from our ties here against the wishes of my wife. That’s not a good feeling.

Just call me Captain Obvious for those who understand and hear. I have multiple degrees in engineering and finance. So I am a techie dweeb/finance/international business guy and I have been watching for years. Yes we are in the beginning of a collapse. How it goes is beyond our control and the only thing we can do is prep as we can. One thing is certain, we are in a collapse unless some miracle occurs. Anyone who disputes this is either a troll or plain stupid. You can’t fix stupid. We are in the beginning of the collapse. I left a jet-set lifestyle (hmmm Calipornia or the Carribean for the weekend? were the most important thoughts I had prior to waking up.) Now I have a remote working small farm and work many hours from home. Many called me crazy when I left the previous life. None of them know where I am now (OPSEC). I won’t claim to know when the SHTF but it is starting now. If you are new to prepping I do feel bad for you unless you have a ton of money. For the trolls/libtards/progsh!ts…I have nothing as that is what you deserve. For the rest… prep as you can, live every day like it is your last and enjoy it for tomrrow might be a helluva lot worse. Enjoy your family.

Zombie,many are new to prepping and some just living paycheck to paycheck,that said,one can still prep.As I like to say regularly”The smalls add up!”.As always,once again(yah,I know,some have seen this enuff but for new folks): ht tp://americanpreppersnetwork.com/2012/08/a-year-of-food-storage-for-300-for-a-family-of-four.html ,space between http to avoid the “moderation game”,till the hammer drops folks still have a chance to ready themselves and family,best of luck to you all!This link I keep putting up just a start,but a importent one,any who start prepping have done the best prep yet,accepted that a natural/manmade disaster can hit and you are trying to ready yourself for it,the best prep of all is that mental leap!

I am not now, nor have I ever been a “fan” of Mr. Skousen for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, for MY experience, he’s so often so wrong, when he is partially correct, (he’s never right), I automatically discount 99% of what he publishes, writes or utters.
He’s the last guy I would take economic counsel or advice from. Just my personal opinion is all. Never met the guy at all, but since he’s on here frequently, I’m assuming he’s a decent sort of guy.(just wrong too often to suit my tastes)

I would have to disagree with the writer of this article concerning it would take 6 nuclear warhead to knock out power grid going off at same time. I was trained in service for this type of situation and believe me it could happen with 2 . And also his part on the amount of currencies floating around the world is off bye a lot ! You would be lucky if you had 10 t in circulation , there was an article on zerohedge talking about this. Hmmm this smells funny to me

Do you people realize that this means there is no hope? If Skousen is correct, TPTB will have all the time in the world to take our guns, tag us, bag us and send us to camp FEMA.

…if he is correct.

I have a feeling he is somewhat correct but I also have a feeling that TPTB are too confident and they’ll screw something up and blow it. I surely hope so. Simple fact of the matter is that if what Skousen says happens, you’ll never get to see the advantages of your preps because they’ll simply take them away after they take the guns after they chip us and vax us all.

No, without collapse I see no real hope for the USA or humanity. I see it all as darkness and dread and slavery. Which makes me sad. The longer this draws out, the longer they have to Obamacare us to the grave.

Hopefully Skousen is a ways off as all the collapse predictors have been off. I expect he is off some too.

No they don’t have all the time in the world. The magnetic pole shift is happening right now and its accelerating. The end of an age clatyclismic events will continue to be more frequent and more violent. Thats why the big push is now. that’s why the national debt went from George Washingtons time until 6 years ago to 9 trillion and in last 6 years it grew another 9 trillion to 18 trillion. the know the end is near and all their plans (agenda21) are for continuity of Government (NWO) . They don’t care about the economy or debt or citizens because the great Clatyclisims will dramatically change the face of the planet. Checkout the US Navy future Map of the USA. The have even told the people their Plan. Its been made public at the Georgia Guidestones.

Yourmotherwaswrong: hilarious, your right about Durango kid- he changed from zukadu after making relentless doomsday predictions about earth pole shift . He warned us up until the day it didn’t happen, then changed his name . A real tool!

Net,believe that any wide scale martial law/gun confiscation ect. will accelerate massive pushback and thus blow long term plans.With millions of recorded gun sales the last 10 years alone/forget private/build em your self ect. would say folks willing to resist,and when a few resistors killed ect. their family/friends resist,a domino theory that will cause very challenging and sad times but does seem unfortunately inevitable

I agree with what you are saying, but, if they had forever they would use it to their advantage. They are brainwashing the dimwits in the schools and eventually NO BODY will want to own a gun. Ever pull a gun in public to shift the holster, turn it over in your pocket, change pockets? People GASP! OH GOD! IS HE GONNA SHOOT SOMEONE?

Its funny, the last time I saw somebody do that I walked up to them later and said, “Hey! Is that a Smith? Nice!” We stood in the shoe department, unloaded our weapons and were inspecting them. Someone walked up on us and she and her kids about had a heart attack. I figured they’d call the cops on us but none showed.

The brainwashing continues to make people weak, stupid, terrified, dependent and lazy. You’re branded an enemy of the state if you don’t exhibit those 5 characteristics.

What I worry about is that we are hanging by a thread of liberty now. If they draw this out another 5 years, what will it be like? They’ll keep reclassifying the ammo (BATF – M855/SS109 regulations) and making us less and lest under gunned (which is TOTALLY UNLAWFUL) but, again, the brainwashed, dumbed down public just goes alone.

Will we just keep going along? …until we are in chains? It will be too late then.

I have on the desk before me Mr. Skousen’s book ‘Strategic Relocation, North American Guide to Safe Places.” It’s an extensive, 348-page guide to finding a safe place to live and prosper in the face of the same various threats he speaks about in the above article.

I noticed that at the time of its writing in 2010 he believed that, for the same reasons given above, the SHTF (my words) wouldn’t happen until 2010–2030. He eloquently hedged his bets against the actions of predatory politicians and rogue governments, terrorists and the George Soroses of the world.

But a lot of water has gone under the bridge since 2010 and I still believe Mr. Skousen is speaking more from the frame of reference of a real estate salesman than a prophet.

Nevertheless, his body of work is an amazing, useful and commendable collection. I read his stuff regularly.

I just can’t see him purposefully shooting himself in the foot by discouraging his readers from betting that there’s enough time left on the clock to gamble on those 15- and 30-year mortgages.

Google Starfish Prime. 900 miles away, there was enough magnetic pulse to damage lights and electronics on Hawaii.

One similar burst mid CONUS would send a surge through our long lines to fry EVERYTHING plugged in. Maybe the circuit breakers would be strong enough or quick enough to save the coastal part of the grid.

But that still leaves a crippled America with most of us without power and heading into complete societal collapse. As if there are enough personnel/resources to come to our aid from the coasts.

New low for the Baltic Dry Index. 516 today. In spite of the west coast slow down at the ports. Freighters parked off coast, every where. Many charts are starting to turn down. We’re slipping, slowly, but slipping. Slow death. Break out the popcorn.

not exactly sure what crystal ball you are looking into, but if you really believe that past performance of markets has any bearing on what is going to happen, then I certainly question your judgement. If you cannot see that we are in uncharted territory with global personal debt, global sovereign debt, shadow banking, derivatives etc. and an interruption in any one of these COULD cause a cascading collapse, then you are indeed blind. It’s all balancing on the head of a confidence needle…one gust of wind and the game is over. Or, you could be right and we could meander blissfully ignorant for many more years. Like I said, flip a coin.

The Great Depression did not happen all at once. There were many “corrections” the big crash was just one of the more extreme. Worldwide the Great Depression lasted about 13 hard years.

There were bank holidays, but not all banks failed all at once.

There were food shortages, they reoccured many times over the years. Everyone that didn’t starve learned to keep a full pantry. Everyone with access to dirt, grew some kind of food!

Everyone bartered, everyone made or grew some kind of a cash crop, be it wine, beer, fruit, nuts, berries, preserves, eggs, chickens, or had a trade, construction, car repair, etc.

We recently had a huge storm, lost power for weeks, water contaminated, no Internet, no phone services, no gasoline, no nothing! I learned more in those two weeks than in a year of armchair reading.

Being prepared is a way of life, I don’t do it to any extreme, but I do get peace of mind, from the process. Some days it’s just the opportunity to teach the children something, or just run a small experiment in the garden. Take every good day as a blessing, and learn from the bad days.

I like annual long projects. Last years was learn how to make homemade bread, that is to die for. I survived! My bread is now required/demanded at all family gatherings! I just decided yesterday that this years project will be to learn how to make awesome home made cheese, perhaps a gouda! It likes years of dry aging without refrigeration, hmmm prepper delight! Imagine hundreds of pounds of mouth watering cheese, aging away in the basement. OK, so some of those cheese wheels will be good for little more than door stops, or rat bait! LOL! But really, it’s all about the journey!

In this article, I started to see Joel as a shining beacon of Contrarian intelligence amongst the Henny-Pennyans.. until he took us to war with China and Russia. And then I had to chide myself with remembrance that he also promotes Montana, Utah, and other sorry choices as great homefronts.

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